During a symposium addressing correctional policy, practice, and care for incarcerated members of the transgender community, held at the George Washington University (GW), stakeholders found that collaborative engagement could help further public policy recommendations and clinical care guidance for this vulnerable population.
The outcomes of the symposium, which featured 27 key stakeholders, were outlined in a recent article published in the Journal of Correctional Health Care, authored by Newton Kendig, MD, clinical professor of medicine and program director for the Master of Science in Health Sciences in Correctional Health Administration at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
The symposium focused on four main areas: identifying correctional policy and practice considerations for screening, searching, housing, and managing transgender persons that protect them from abuse; training correctional staff to increase respectful attitudes toward transgender inmates and coworkers; identifying clinical practice considerations for better defining necessary care for transgender patients; and identifying effective reentry strategies for transgender persons returning to their communities.
“Throughout the symposium, stakeholders in the corrections field had the opportunity to learn from one another and have an open dialogue on managing transgender populations and ensuring they receive the proper care,” Kendig said. “These discussions are ongoing, and we hope they will continue to lead to improved management of transgender populations in the future.”
Participants brought an array of experience to the symposium. Among those on hand were experts in the corrections field, federal managers of transgender programs, directors or assistant directors of state departments of corrections, jail authorities, and university professors.
Throughout the two-day event, stakeholders developed considerations for correctional officials who are implementing policies for managing transgender populations; identified critical gaps in knowledge and practice; created considerations for correctional officials who are developing training curricula for professionally interacting with transgender inmates; and discussed considerations for correctional officials who are implementing reentry programs for transgender populations.
Kendig added that coming out of the symposium, attendees gained new ideas and insights from their fellow colleagues and established professional networks to create and foster ongoing dialogue on the issues the symposium addressed.
“Developing Correctional Policy, Practice, and Clinical Care Considerations for Incarcerated Transgender Patients Through Collaborative Stakeholder Engagement” is available at Liebert Pub.
